Police say an armed citizen came to the aid of security guards at a metro Detroit Home Depot store who were being attacked by a drug-addicted shoplifter with a dirty syringe.

The incident happened Monday afternoon at the Home Depot store on 13 Mile Road and Little Mack Avenue, off I-94 in Roseville, as the guards were trying to apprehend 26-year-old Joshua Joseph Silva who was caught shoplifting.

Instead of cooperating, police say Silva man “began to violently fight” with the guards in an attempt to avoid arrest. At some point during the altercation, Silva allegedly pulled a concealed syringe from his jacket and began using it as a weapon.

Police say Silva was whirling the syringe around in a swinging motion, and was able to stab one of guards several times with the contaminated needle.

Another shopper who has a concealed pistol license saw the altercation and quickly sprung into action. Police say the man produced his handgun and ordered Silva to drop the syringe and get on the ground.

“Faced with the threat of deadly force, the suspect stopped fighting and complied with the order, dropping the syringe and taking a seat on the parking lot,” police said in a statement.

Bob Owens is the Editor of BearingArms.com.
Bob is a graduate of roughly 400 hours of professional firearms training classes, including square range and force-on force work with handguns and carbines. He is a past volunteer instructor with Project Appleseed. He most recently received his Vehicle Close Quarters Combat Instructor certification from Centrifuge Training, and is the author of the short e-book, So You Want to Own a Gun.
He can be found on Twitter at bob_owens.
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